Daily Current Affairs Updates: 9 December 2014

1) Modi
won TIME readers’ poll for ‘Person of the Year’: Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who did not make it to the final eight selected by TIME for the annual
‘Person of the Year’ title, has been hailed as one by its readers in an online
poll conducted by the publication. Mr. Modi has been named winner of this
year’s readers’ poll for TIME ‘Person of the Year’, securing more than 16 per
cent of the almost five million votes cast. Protesters in Ferguson, who were
demonstrating against a grand jury’s decision not to indict white police
officer Darren Wilson who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown
in August ranked second with 9 per cent of the votes. TIME said “a strong
showing of readers from India” helped drive Mr. Modi’s first-place finish.

2) American
Express, Jet Airways launched co-branded corporate card: American Express
and Jet Airways have joined hands to launch India’s first of its kind airline
co-branded corporate card –Jet Airways American Express Corporate Card-- for
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their employees. This co-branded
corporate card will help SMEs and their executives to drive substantial savings
on business travel and associated expenses, Saru Kaushal, Country Business
Head, Global Corporate Payments, American Express Banking Corp told.

3) MDMK
quits NDA: The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) on 8 December
2014 quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) blaming the Centre for
“being insensitive” and “betraying the interests” of the people of Tamil Nadu
and of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

4) Bhutan,
not India, was first to recognize Bangladesh: Bhutan and not India was the
first to to recognize Bangladesh as an independent nation, foreign office has
said, putting an end to the decades-old speculation on the issue. "Bhutan
was the first country, there is no controversy about that," foreign
secretary M Shahidul Haque told reporters amid fresh speculation in media over
the first foreign country to recognize Bangladesh after the 1971 liberation war
against Pakistan. aque said both Bhutan and India had recognized Bangladesh as
an independent country on December 6, 1971 but Thimphu's announcement came
hours ahead of India's official recognition.

5) Cadila
launched first cheaper copy of world’s top-selling drug: Cadila Healthcare
said on 9 December 2014 it launched the first biosimilar version of
anti-inflammatory medicine adalimumab, the world’s top-selling drug, at a fifth
of its U.S. price. The drug’s branded version is sold under the name Humira by
U.S. firm AbbVie Inc, and costs $1,000 for a vial in the United States. Humira
had sales of $3.26 billion in the quarter ended September, accounting for 65
per cent of AbbVie’s total revenue.

6) SBI
launched first homegrown economic indicator: The country now has another
monthly economic index, with the State Bank of India (SBI) on 9 Dec 2014
launching a tool that will primarily track manufacturing activity to offer a
forward-looking economic trends. The SBI Composite Index rivals the existing
data point from British lender HSBC. The SBI index has been developed on the
basis of the bank’s internal loan portfolio, which mirrors the credit demand in
the country, and other data sets available in public domain.

7) First
test begins, Hughes '13th man': In the minds of cricket lovers, Phillip
Hughes will remain '63 Not Out Forever' but on 9 Dec 2014 the departed
cricketer was named as his national team's "13th Man", with the first
cricket Test between India and Australia starting in Adelaide on an emotional
note. As Australia named their playing XI for the match, pacer Josh Hazlewood
was listed as the 12th man and the players wanted to include Hughes' name as
the 13th man in the list. Ten days back, cricket world was struck by the
tragedy when Hughes passed away after failing to recover being hit by a Sean
Abbott bouncer in a Sheffield Shield game. An entire nation went into mourning.

8) Lok
Sabha passed Payment and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014: A bill
aimed at bringing India's banking payment system in sync with international
practices was passed by the Lok Sabha on 9 Dec 2014 with Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley saying the world would lack confidence if "obsolete laws" in
the financial system exist in this country. Replying to a debate on Payments
and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, Jaitley said there was a
"gap" in the law which needed to be addressed so that there is
protection for payments in case of insolvency. The bill seeks to improve the
payment and settlement systems by increasing transparency and stability of
Indian financial market.

9) International
Anti-Corruption Day observed: International Anti-Corruption Day was
observed by the United Nations on 9 December 2014. The day was observed to
raise public awareness about corruption and what people can do to fight it. The
theme of 2014 International Anti-Corruption Day was Break the Corruption Chain.

10) Advanced
Pinaka Mark-II rocket successfully test-fired: An advanced version of the
indigenously developed Pinaka Mark-II rocket was successfully test-fired on 9
December 2014 from a defence base in Odisha using a multi-barrel launcher. The
tests were conducted from the Proof & Experimental Establishment (PXE) at
Chandipur firing range No. 2, about 15-km from Balasore, defence sources said.

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 9 December 2014
Reviewed by
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10.12.14
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1) Modi won TIME readers’ poll for ‘Person of the Year’ : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who did no...